


Get Lost

by marcosburlybiceps



Category: Night Huntress Series - Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-05-18 19:25:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19341046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcosburlybiceps/pseuds/marcosburlybiceps
Summary: Takes place during Halfway to the Grave. Specifically, from chapters 7-13. Cat and Bones drive to the Grand Canyon and back.





	1. Chapter 1

The large stack of cash weighed my hand down. I froze while Bones continued to complain--something about me.

I looked Bones right in the eye, grabbed his oh-so-slick black leather jacket, and dragged his mouth to mine. His arms slid around me, tugging me closer. I tilted my head and kissed him more.

Gasping, I pushed him away. He let go, after a pause. “Umm, thank you. For the money.”

His eyebrows went up, “If that's how you thank a man, feel free to do it more often.”

I laughed, "I can move out, Bones! Pay for tuition! Pay for gas! Go out to eat!" I laughed harder and moved towards my truck, wondering where someone stashes this much cash.

Bones chuckled, "Slow down, Kitten. Your dreams are getting reckless and irresponsible."

I froze mid-step, stumbling my feet and my thoughts, "I put off college for two years when my grandfather became too sick to work the farm. I had to find a way to feed four people before we became the Charlie in the Chocolate Factory's house. I took whatever job hired me. Shit, now I'm helping a hitman!" Cash firmly wedged into the glove compartment, I looked over at Bones still lounging against his bike. "God, you're right."

His eyebrows went up again and he cupped his hand behind his ear. "Come again?"

Ignoring _that_ , "I need to be irresponsible. I need to get out of here." I had the front seat up and my torso in the back of the cab before remembering that _I'm in a minidress next to the vampire I'd just deep throated_. I popped my head back out and tried to casually tug my dress back down.

He snorted, "Penny for your thoughts, pet?"

Blushing, I swiped some curls back. I caught a glimpse of the road atlas sticking out from under an errant high heel. "How far of a drive is it to the Grand Canyon?"

"Five or six states away. I'd say a full days drive. Are you moving out of your family home into a giant hole in the ground?"

"I've never been outside of Ohio," I grunted past the chair in my stomach. I grabbed the corner of the atlas and sat down. "I've thought about leaving before, but…"

"You didn't have the money to go." Bones was suddenly standing in the doorframe. I blinked.

"Or the time. Momma would have bitten my head off if I disappeared like that. She's only nice to me when I'm killing or working" Realizing his gaze was pulling the truth from me again, I flipped the book to Ohio and searched for our town. "You should have heard the guilt she laid into me when I first said I wanted to go to college."

Bones pointed to what must be his cave. I followed the lines to the edge of the state like it really mattered. How many gallons of gas is that? _I got the cash. Who cares?_ I felt the manic smile slide back on my face. Bones's stance was weirdly guarded, leaning against the open door, arms crossed and expression closed. I knew his eyes missed nothing, but wasn't quite sure what there was to see. Even being sporadic, I'm not that interesting. The Grand Canyon is a basic white girl vacation.

"Do you want to come? To the Grand Canyon. With me." My face flamed and took my neck with it. _I said that. Out loud._

Bones laughed, "I love when you turn those colors. It happens so infrequently nowadays. What could have set you off, I wonder?" He winked. I blinked, trying to stir some kind of thought on how to get out of my invitation. "Yes, Kitten, I'll come along."

I broke eye contact and flipped more pages. Then it occurred to me, "We're not taking the motorcycle." Bones scoffed.

A pause, "We're not using a paper map."

I closed it and shifted in my seat to see him better. His shirt was in almost perfect condition, considering the death it had seen today. "We split the driving evenly."

"We stay in motels before dawn." He looked up from my crossed legs. "And driver picks the music."

Horrified, "I get vetoes."

Bones smirked, "One."

"Five."

Together, "Three."

I couldn't think of anything else to add and while I was figuring it out, Bones' gaze drifted back down to my legs. Time to get out of here. "Then I will see you in two afternoons."

Bones raised an eyebrow, stood up, and offered his hand. I laughed and pushed him out of the doorway. "Goodnight."

"You're damn right it is, luv."

I smiled and drove home.

 

* * *

 

I stuffed a pair of ratty sweat shorts into the backpack I normally used to lug textbooks. They had holes worn into the bottom hems, somehow. They looked at home next to the ratty, long sleep shirts and boring boxers. I was zipping some cheap and certainly not sexy cotton bras in the front pocket when Momma walked into our room. She paused, watching me, "What's going on, Catherine?"

The well practiced, soothing smile, slid right on. "I have good news. The bloodsuckers I got last night were some kind of drug dealers. They had a mountain of cash between them." I shook the paper bag with five grand in it. "This is yours, Momma."

Her eyes filled up as she grabbed my hands and held them between us. "Good job, baby. I told you this is God's work. Finally reward has come." Her hands were soft though her grip was hard. The sun shone through my chest at her proud smile. It almost lit up the room. Guilt bled at the edges, but I was ignoring it. All I wanted was to bask in the love I was always chasing after.

Momma's face twisted a little, "But what are you packing for?"

I tugged my hands away and drifted to the closet. "I made a friend at the school orientation. We've been texting and it turns out we have a lot in common. She invited me on a pre-semester roadtrip. I'm gonna go." I placed one more shirt in and zipped everything up. I tried for the soothing smile. "I made a real friend."

Silence. My stomach clenched as her smile was wiped away and her eyes turned cold. "Be careful, Catherine. Remember, you--"

We recited together, "--have a monster inside of you."

She nodded and crossed her arms. I looked at the carpet and wanted to vomit black blood on the spot. _Why does she always have to say that?_ "I know. I'll be careful."

She smiled. "Good. Then clean up and let's get dinner ready." She left our room and her footsteps retreated down the stairs. I cracked every bone I could and followed.


	2. Chapter 2

I shifted to park and glanced over at Bones. This had been the longest silence between us, ever. Figures it was because he's asleep. Soft deep breaths came from under the heavy leather jacket thrown over his head. He'd tried his usual tricks to get me talking through the first two hours, then gave me space, then conked out. Thank God boredom knocks out motor mouths.

I shook my head at myself while rooting around under the seats. Why did I ask him to come along? When did I decide that the worst thing about Bones was his non-stop talking and not his non-living flesh? Finding a pen and a crushed receipt, I wrote quickly and tucked it and the truck keys into his pocket.

A breeze blew through the open windows and knocked my hair around. The sun was descending, but taking its sweet time. Would Bones wake up if I grabbed his sunglasses? Shaking my head again, I hopped out and headed towards the nearest trail. If someone wanted to steal an old truck with a sleeping vampire in it, I wished them luck. He would probably extrovert them to death.

 

* * *

 

My pants refused to roll up higher than my knees. I gave the left leg another tug, hoping they didn't decide to give up and rip instead. Nothing. I knew I should have started this road trip in something looser and more comfortable, but I was one pair short of enough for round trip. I refused to do laundry for one pair of soft shorts, and here was the result.

Screw it. I stepped into the dip in front of me and let my thighs soak. I ran my hands through the water and held a cup of it to my neck. The shiver down my back made the stifling humidity of this park, of this town almost worth it.

"Went hiking?" I jumped, twisted, and nearly went down when my foot slid along a mossy rock. Bones was standing on the grass wearing his black sunglasses, but no jacket. His pale skin looked golden against his white shirt. I expected a pack of smokes to be tucked into a rolled up sleeve. "Really, pet? No other details?"

His power bobbed against me, swept past, encircled me. It was stronger than when I'd left him. How did I not notice it? "You found me, didn't you?" I felt around for a rock to throw.

Bones muttered something like "mad" and "woman" that I chose to ignore. My rocks all plopped instead of skipped as he rolled up his jeans and walked to me. "Where are we?"

"Not entirely sure. Five hours out." We stood and listened to the chaos our bodies made in the water. I gave in and sat on a flat enough rock, and leaned back until neck deep.

A sigh, "I assume you want me to guess. We stopped so you could take a bath? If I'd flipped the note over it would have said to bring soap?"

"You're talking through my peaceful moment," I grumbled.

"Is that a hint, luv? Alright, you needed to pray, but didn't see any churches. Driving with a dead man finally got to you."

My mouth twitched before I could stop it.

"That's it, isn't it? You didn't believe that vampires don't combust in the sun so you left me out there to rot and prove me wrong."

I snickered. "What, you didn't notice the water bottle I left you in the cup holder?" I opened my eyes to see Bones frowning down at me. "Wait, no, I threw that out at the last gas station." He scowled while I laughed.

He sat down fast enough to cause a splash and pushed me off of the rock. I let the water run over all of me and came up shaking my hair. I flipped the mess back and waded towards Bones. His smile faded to something more serious as I stopped in front of him. His power almost burned. I grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. His eyes searched my face as I slowly smiles and moved on towards the grass.

Carefully, watching for rocks, easing past the Caution sign in my heart, I started, "I said before that my grandpa was sick. Well, before that, he used to travel as much and as far as he could. He has bookcases full of photos from it." I winced around a shell in my arch. "When I was seven, I wanted to be a family portrait photographer. You know, like at malls. He takes perfect candids."

My voice drops and I don't know what I'm sharing this. "My favorite one is of Momma and I at the kitchen table. I'm on her lap and she's watching me press cookie cutters into dough… Anyway, he knows I'm on a trip, though I lied about everything else. He lent me a camera. I thought I'd try being the granddaughter he wanted me to be." I slipped the camera strap around my neck and grabbed my shoes. 

"You can look if you want, but it's all trees and water." I turned back to see Bones emerge from the creek like some kind of damn Venus. The shirt was practically see through. His jeans followed every line of his body. Water dripped down his neck and collarbones. I whipped around and stomped towards the truck. _I probably look like a drowned cat._

The sun left us while I waited by the door. The parking lot had emptied except for one family with a big wet dog getting into their minivan. Venus jangled the keys at me from a few spots away. The teen son noticed too and stared at him. I rolled my eyes.

I made him stay on the other side of the truck while we both changed into clean clothes. Taking off my jeans was a real struggle. "Bones?"

A grunt came back.

"Why did your mother name you 'Bones'?"

His surprised face and bare shoulders appeared on the other side of the bed. His blonde hair was sticking up everywhere. I hid behind the cab. "She didn't. I told you that vampires change their names over time. Mum named me Crispin Philip Arthus Russell III. She thought adding numerals to my name would give me a bit of dignity."

I wrung my clothes. "And Bones is from…?"

"When Ian turned me, he left me in a burial ground that was hundreds of years old. I woke up surrounded by bones. From bones I rose and Bones I became all in that night."

I chewed on that while trying to clean my feet with the wet shirt. It wasn't very effective. Bones sat in the driver's seat and fiddled with the map app. A teenaged prostitute trying to give her child a chance at a better life starting with his name. Would she be proud of who her son became?

Who would I have become if Momma had died?

"I like the numerals."

He looked at me, the yellow in his brown eyes lit by the phone screen. "Me too, Kitten."

 

* * *

 

Freshly showered, I flopped back on the mattress. We'd kept driving for another six hours. Dawn was inching closer, but Bones was still out somewhere. He'd checked in to the room when I'd been in the lobby bathroom. Then he ran off to find a victim. Lo and behold, he'd gotten a room with one King instead of two beds. I finger combed my hair. How am I going to get out of sleeping with a bloodsucker?

My stomach made itself known. I had spotted a vending machine near the room earlier and grabbed some bills. With a new armful of pretzel sticks and water bottles, I walked back through the dark. The air was hushed despite us being on the edge of a city. My ears perked at the sounds of moaning.

There, down a small alley between rooms, was a woman partially leaning against the wall. Her blonde hair caught the streetlight. The hair moved. Bones. His mouth was pressed against her throat. He glanced up and we stared at each other. My pulse pounded in my ears as I sped to the room and threw the lock.

I made a wall out of pillows and turned the clock radio to static. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. Squeezing my eyes shut and forcing my heart rate to slow, I pictured that last kiss between us. A ghost that was almost real. His mouth pressing hard, then softer, slower, lingering, as I pushed his chest and he let me push him away. For one second, feeling the breath he doesn't need brush my skin, I regretted it. _Never again._


End file.
